Homeward Bound - 28 April 2013

It’s a very happy Pugwash that writes this weekend; we are in Europe and the schedule is confirmed; flights are booked and my relief is due to arrive on Tuesday. This first voyage with Maestro is very nearly at its end, I look back “fondly” on the endless delays, the stinking hot weather and the lack of beer for the last 14 days!

Masterchef, “Gibraltar Style”

During Monday we transited the Straits of Gibraltar late in the afternoon; the weather was lovely albeit a little overcast. The scenery on the Moroccan side was spectacular as high rocky peaks plunged into the azure seas, the view would have been far better with a beer in hand but the red wine sufficed. The route into the Mediterranean takes you on the south side of the straits so, with the haze, we were not able to clearly make it out Gibraltar; however we knew it was there as we could tune the TV into Gibraltar TV and radio. It might be English speaking but the selection of “entertainment” on offer was a little lacking; Gibraltar’s version of Masterchef will remind me not to dine out on The Rock should I return!

Deep Tan

Following our transit through the Straits of Gibraltar we had a few days at sea before our first port of call, Fos-sur-Mer. Fos is a very large container facility built in the 1960’s, it was built on reclaimed marshland for the largest new container ships of the era. Unfortunately the new container vessels have outgrown the limited facilities and it is struggling in the shadow of the new and larger container ports in Spain and Italy. Fos was the destination for our cargo of yellowcake, a hazardous cargo that everybody has been trying to convince me is totally safe! So as we arrived in Fos, we were greeted with an armada of safety and escort vessel to guide us to our berth. The reception committee was all dressed in the latest NBC (nuclear, biological and chemical) suits as the containers were inspected and readings taken with a Geiger counter before the clearance was given to discharge the cargo. Now this yellowcake is the same yellowcake that has minimal radioactivity and you would receive a larger dose of radiation if you had 4 x-rays, so suddenly it is treated like it has come from Chernobyl! Maestro, Delmas (the shippers) and the processing company have been saying that there was no risk, which has changed to minimal risk to now they will be looking at monitoring our levels of exposure. As some of you will know, I’m pretty mercenary on these matters; I’m quite happy to take the risk as long as you pay me for it! And there was me thinking my healthy glow was due to the rather deep tan which 7 weeks in the sun has given me.

The Weather

The weather in the Mediterranaen has been more “North Sea” than “Mediterranean Sea”; grey, dark angry skies have replaced the clear blue skies. Gentle breezes have given way to Northerly gales and calm seas have been whipped into a maelstrom. The voyage from Fos down to Valencia was a fairly violent affair; Ro-Ro ships are not the best sea keeping vessels, and when they are empty of cargo, fuel and ballast they can’t half move around! The excessive motion certainly kept me on my toes and I spent a night in the engine room nursing the main engine. It was probably the best place to be as looking at the devestation in the accomodation sleeping wouldn’t have been possible!

Valencia

“The rain in Spain, falls mainly on the plain!” No it doesn’t, it falls mainly on my head; as we spent 4 hours loading fuel it absolutely lashed it down! I was like a drowned rat when we’d finished, suddenly the scorching weather of West Africa looks fantastic. We had a nights stopover in Valencia, something I was looking forward to; a bit of San Miguel and tapas was just what I needed. After spending an hour wandering around the container port trying to find the gate out I gave up and went back on board, I could see the bars and hear the music but I couldn’t find my way there! Denied….

Smoky Old Wreck

As we were at anchor waiting to enter the port of Valencia, the mighty Cunard cruise ship Queen Elizabeth passed us by. As we sat and looked at such an impressive vessel, the Chief Engineer within me observed the amount of smoke from her engines as she passed. The Maestro Sea might not be as big or as impressive, but I can keep my engines from smoking as much as hers. One up for the Maestro Sea! Perhaps I should have a word with the Chief…

Aussie Humour

This week’s treat is a little bit of Aussie humour; this was voted Australia’s funniest joke...

A man walks into his bedroom with a sheep under his arm and says,
"Darling, this is the pig I have sex with when you have a headache."
His wife is lying in bed and replies, "I think you'll find that that's a sheep, you idiot."
The man says, "I think you'll find I wasn't talking to you.”

Admit it, it is quite funny! Ok, try this one…

God visits a man and tells him he must give up smoking, drinking and sex, if he wants to enter the kingdom of heaven..... The man says he’ll try, but it’s not going to be easy. God revisits the man a week later to see how he’s getting on... ‘Not bad’ says the man ‘I’ve given up smoking and drinking but when the wife bent over the freezer the other day I just couldn’t contain myself and had to do it to her there and then, hard and fast’.

‘They don’t like that sort of thing in heaven’ says God. ‘They weren’t too chuffed about it in Asda either’ says the man.

…Mentions…

Once again my birthday calendar is empty, however it is my wedding anniversary on Monday 29^th April; so to my wife…

Have a very happy anniversary, all my love! xxx

From the Galley

I’ll leave you with another recipe from the galley; barbecues will be a real treat at my place, crunchy pea salad, lovely!

Green Peas

Peas are high in fibre, protein, vitamins (C, B, E and K) and minerals (such as calcium, iron, copper, zinc and manganese). Pea pods are excellent source of folic acid.

Crunchy Pea Salad

Ingredients: 1 package frozen peas (thawed); 1 cup cauliflower (chopped); 1 cup celery (diced); 1 cup slivered almonds; 1/4 cup green onions (sliced); 1 cup salad dressing; 1/2 cup sour cream; 1/2tsp dill weed; 1/4tsp salt; 1/8tsp pepper; Lettuce leaves (optional).

Method: Take a large bowl. Add peas, cauliflower, celery, almonds, onions, salad dressing, cream, drill weed, salt and pepper. Mix well. Cover and chill until serving. Serve on lettuce if desired.

Green Peas with Onion

Ingredients: 1 medium onion (sliced); 1tsp garlic (minced); 2tbsp butter; 1 package frozen peas; 3tbsp water; 1/2tsp salt; 1/4tsp pepper.

Method: Take large skillet, add butter and saute garlic and onion until tender. Add peas and water.

Bring to a boil. Cover and cook for another 4-5 minutes (until peas are tender) over low heat. Season with salt and pepper.

Creamy Pea Salad

Ingredients: 1/2 cup fat-free sour cream; 2 bacon strips (cooked and crumbled); 1 green onion (chopped); 1tsp white wine vinegar; 1/2tsp salt; 1/8tsp pepper; 3 cups fresh or frozen peas (thawed).

Method: Take a bowl.

Add cream, bacon strips, onion, vinegar and salt and mix well.

Add peas; toss to coat.

Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.

Enjoy!

And so it is farewell from the Maestro Sea, no doubts I’ll return in June with more tales of adventure on the high seas.

It’s been a very quiet week on the Maestro Sea 22 April 2013

It’s been a very quiet week on the Maestro Sea as we continue to head back to Europe, very little has happened and there is very little to report.

We have travelled west from Cotonou, Benin passing Togo, Ghana and Ivory Coast before heading northwest past Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Senegal and The Gambia. We then headed north along the coast of Western Sahara before turning northeast and passing between the Canary Islands and Morocco. At present we are some 50 miles off Casablanca, Morocco and heading towards Gibraltar, we should pass through Gibraltar Straits sometime on Monday afternoon.

Stores

The situation with stores gets worse; we have now run out of beer, red wine, bottled water, cigarettes, shampoo, breakfast cereal, flour, potatoes, salad and beef. It’s a pretty sorry state of affairs when a modern ship has so little in the way of reserve stores! The beer situation is causing a real issue with the crew, I’d better not say I have a case hidden in my wardrobe; I might get robbed!

Football

Bolton Wanderers continue a late charge to the Premiership; another victory over Middlesboro is their eighth consecutive home win! Well done Dougie and the team, I always said he was the right man for the job… J As I expect to be home before the 4^th May, lets hope it can be nine consecutive home wins. Sorry Dad, you’ll need to buy a ticket for that game!

The Weather

You know it’s been hot, when you look at a temperature of 30°C and think it’s a bit chilly I might need a vest! However as we have headed north, the engine temperature has decreased dramatically; those unhealthy temperatures of 52°C are long gone. Even Senegal has had some very un-seasonal cold weather, as we passed Dakar the temperature was down to 18°C. I know that might seem very hot to the residents of Bolton, but if you live in Dakar that’s freezing! However the sun is shining again and my sun lounger is calling…

Well I did say not much has happened, so that is pretty much it from Pugwash; there aren’t even any birthdays to mention (well none in my calendar); so I’ll leave you with a treat from the galley…. chicken, everybody’s favourite poultry.

Southern Fried Chicken

Ingredients (serving for 6): whole chicken (3 pound- cut into pieces), 1 cup all-purpose flour, salt (to taste), ground black pepper (to taste), 1 teaspoon paprika, 1 quart vegetable oil (for frying).

Method: Season chicken pieces with salt, pepper, and paprika and roll in flour. Now, add 1/2-3/4inch oil to a large, heavy skillet. Heat to approximately 365 degrees F; place chicken pieces in hot oil; cover, and fry until golden, turning once, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain on paper towels. Now, serve.

Grilled chicken salad

Ingredients (serving for 6): 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, 1/2 cup pecans, 1/3 cup red wine vinegar, 1/2 cup white sugar, 1 cup vegetable oil, 1/2 onion (minced), 1 teaspoon ground mustard, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper, 2 heads Bibb lettuce (rinsed, dried and torn), 1 cup sliced fresh strawberries.

Method: Preheat the grill; lightly oil the grill grate; grill chicken for 8 minutes on each side, or until juices run clear. Remove from heat, cool, and slice. Meanwhile, place pecans in a dry skillet over medium-high heat; cook pecans until fragrant, stirring frequently, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat, and set aside. In a blender, combine the red wine vinegar, sugar, vegetable oil, onion, mustard, salt, and pepper. Process until smooth; arrange lettuce on serving plates. Top with grilled chicken slices, strawberries, and pecans. Drizzle with the dressing to serve.

Lemon Chicken

Ingredients (serving for 6): 3 pounds skinless, boneless chicken (breast meat), 1 tablespoon of dry sherry, 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 2 eggs, 2 cups vegetable oil, 1/4 cup cornstarch, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/3 cup white sugar, 1 tablespoon cornstarch, 1 cup chicken broth, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 lemon (sliced), 2 tablespoons vegetable oil.

Method: Combine the chicken, sherry, soy sauce and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a large bowl. Mix together, cover and refrigerate and let marinate for 15 to 20 minutes; in a small bowl, beat together the eggs, 1/4 cup cornstarch and baking powder to form a batter. In a wok, heat 2 cups oil to 350 degrees F; coat chicken with batter and fry in wok until it becomes brown. Cut into bite size pieces and set aside. In a medium bowl combine the sugar, 1 tablespoon cornstarch, broth, lemon juice and 1 teaspoon salt. Mix together and add lemon slices; heat 2 tablespoons oil in wok and slowly stir in lemon sauce mixture; cook, stirring, until sauce is clear. Now, pour sauce over chicken and serve.

Enjoy!

I’m finally homeward bound again 14 April 2013

I hope the weather in the UK is improving as I’m finally homeward bound, West Africa is receding over the horizon and next bit of land I expect to sea will be Gibraltar on 21^st April. Our next port of call will be Fos-sur-Mer, then it will be Valencia, Sete and finally Marseille on 29^th April.

Once again we were delayed in Cotonou, the West African beaurocracy machine went into overdrive! The original order was for 29 containers of yellowcake to be shipped, but as we were due to berth the vessel to load only 23 containers of yellowcake could be located. Under normal circumstances it wouldn’t take long to locate 6 containers, but this is West Africa. If the paperwork is wrong then somebody somewhere wants a payment to correct the paperwork; so for another 3 days we sat and waited. However you have to worry; in Lome (just 60 miles up the coast in Togo) 30 tonnes of mortar shells went out of the dock gate unaccounted for, and now in Benin there is 90 tonnes of uranium ore missing. And all of this is just 120 miles from Nigeria which is about to become the next hot-bed of Al-Quaeda activity; and you’re all worried about North Korea………

Cotonou, Benin; The Holiday Resort

Cotonou is a strange place! It has a couple of beautiful white sandy beaches, there is a lively surf breaking up both beaches; there is even a hotel right next to the port with its own private beach. With the correct marketing and a little bit of advertising this could be an ideal holiday destination. The climate is superb, a very warm 30˚C, manageable humidity and a lovely breeze off the Gulf of Guinea to keep things cool. Instead this place is classed as one of the highest risk areas in West Africa, only Nigeria is classed higher! And this hotel is very close to the port and just a short walk from the very lively market place; over Easter when they had the beach party we could hear, this is where it was held.

West African Organisation

We finally did get alongside in Cotonou to load the containers of Yellowcake; however there weren’t 23, nor 29; but 28 containers! So take a big sigh of relief, there is only 15 tonnes of uranium ore missing; phew! However, watching the loading of these containers was very amusing. In my days at Seatruck, we could discharge 110 containers and load another 110 containers in around 3 hours; so you would think 28 containers would be a doddle! Oh no, we sat and watched as containers came on, were secured, moved, unloaded, reloaded, secured , moved, re-secured and finally after 5 hours they were satisfied with the result. It was of no concern that the ship was listed 10˚ to starboard as they had put most of the containers on one side. And then it was time to leave…..

“This is Blue; I want a Yellow one!”

What is it with Africa and colours? In Dakar we had the fun and games with the Port Agents Peugeot being the wrong colour; and in Cotonou it was the Port Release papers. The stevedores were finally off the ship, the stern door was closed, the engine was running, the tugs were standing by and the pilot was on-board; and then the pilot said we couldn’t leave because he had to have the yellow copy of the papers, not the blue copy. And so began a search for the yellow copy of the papers, it took a further hour to get correct copy on-board and then get the tugs to come back.

Maestro Sea

And here is a picture of the mv Maestro Sea, in all of her “post-refit” glory. Built in 1986 as “Mercantile Sea III” she has traded as mv Express for a long period of time in the Caribbean Sea and more recently on charter to Van Uden running from Immingham to Egypt, Libya, Lebanon and Syria. She is currently on charter to Delmas running from Valencia, Livorno, Sete and Marseille to Dakar, Abidjan, Lome, Cotonou, Malabo, Bate and Doula.

Beer

I am rather partial to the occasional ice cold beer, as some of you know; however for a very long time most of the ships I have worked on have been dry. So it is a refreshing change to find a company that trusts its employees to enjoy a beer, in moderation obviously. What is not so refreshing is to find that although I’m allowed to enjoy a beer, I cannot because we have run out! Unbelievable, 17 days remaining of the trip and there is no beer left on-board!

Beer is not the only items we are running short of, we also lack fresh fruit, vegetables, salad and water. They only planned for a five-week voyage not the seven weeks it will take.

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner may be coming true after all; although I don’t recall killing an albatross on the voyage south.

’Day after day, day after day, we stuck nor breath nor motion.

As idle as a painted ship upon a painted ocean.

Water, water everywhere and all the boards did shrink.

Water, water everywhere nor any drop to drink.’

Samuel  Coleridge Taylor, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Wine Tasting Notes

Andimar Vino Tinto; what can we say? Its red, its bland, its 10% by vol and it comes in a Tetrapak box. I have absolutely no idea what grape it comes from, except its red (probably). I also know that any wine that comes in a tetrapak is probably best avoided, or used for cooking; however this little number has two saving graces. One, its all we got and, two, it costs $2 a box!

“Another glass, Chief?” “Don’t mind if I do, cheers!”

Next week I’ll review the Vino Blanco.

“Out of Africa” Barbecue

One of the things destined to bring about a change in the weather is a barbecue! Five weeks on-board and I haven’t seen a drop of rain, so on the day the crew decided to throw the “Out of Africa” barbecue you can guess what the weather was like! Oh, yes, just like in the UK a barbecue is guaranteed to bring the dark skies and rain; and when it rains in Africa it absolutely throws it down! It’s still 28°C mind…

However our spirits were not to be dampened, as we all enjoyed a bit of roast pig; found the last of the beer and the sun did eventually shine very late on. The crew entertained us with a karaoke show and despite being primed with the last of the beer, the very bad red (and even worse) white wine I resisted the temptation to have another go at Celine Dion’s Titanic theme tune.

… And finally…

And this week’s birthday mention goes to Miss Megan Walker, who turns into a teenager on Tuesday 16^th April! Where has the time gone? Have a very happy birthday Megan.

This week, from the Galley we have a special guest…

The Cabbage!

The green-leafy vegetable is high in nutrition and very low in fat and calories. It is an excellent source of vitamin C and natural antioxidant, which helps protect against breast, colon and prostate cancers. Cabbage also helps reduce 'bad cholesterol' i.e. LDL levels in the blood.

Spicy Stir-Fried Cabbage

Ingredients: 4 garlic cloves (minced); 2tsp ginger (minced); 1/2tsp red pepper flakes; 1 star anise (broken in half); 2tsp soy sauce; 2tbsp Shao Hsing rice wine or dry sherry; 2tbsp peanut oil; 1 small cabbage quartered, cored and cut crosswise into 1/8-inch shreds; 1 medium carrot (cut into julienne); Salt to taste; 2tbsp minced chives.

Method: Take a small bowl and mix garlic, ginger, red pepper flakes. Take another small bowl and mix soy sauce and wine or sherry. Take flat-bottomed wok over high heat. Add oil and combine garlic, ginger, red pepper flakes (mixed in a small bowl) and stir-fry for a few seconds until fragrant. Now, add cabbage and carrots and stir-fry for one to two minutes. Once the cabbage begins to wilt, add salt and wine/soy sauce mixture. Cover and cook over high heat for one minute. Uncover and stir-fry for another 30 seconds, then add chives and stir for a few more seconds. Remove from the heat and serve with rice or noodles.

Warm Red Cabbage Salad

Ingredients: 1tbsp extra-virgin olive oil; 4 cups red cabbage (thinly sliced); 3/4tsp caraway seeds; 1/2tsp salt; 1 crisp, sweet apple; 1 shallot (minced); 1tbsp red-wine vinegar; 1/2tsp Dijon mustard; 1/2tsp freshly, ground pepper; 2tbsp chopped walnuts (toasted).

To toast chopped walnuts: Heat a small dry skillet over medium-low heat. Add nuts and cook, stirring, until lightly browned and fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes.

Method: Take a large saucepan; add oil and heat over medium flame. Add cabbage, caraway seeds and salt. Cover the pan cook, stirring occasionally, until tender. After 8-10 minutes, remove the pan from heat and add apple, shallot, vinegar, mustard and pepper and stir until combined. Serve sprinkled with toasted walnuts.